Short covering helps recovery

STOCK REPORT

Key indices on Thursday ended nearly 1 per cent up, as traders covered short positions in March derivatives contract.

Around 65-70 per cent positions were rolled over to the April series, said Hitesh Sheth, technical analyst at Prabhudas Lilladher. Firm Asian and European markets also lifted sentiment.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensex ended at 12979.66, up 95.32 points, or 0.7 per cent from Wednesday, after touching a low of 12832.69 and high of 13004.40.

The National Stock Exchange's Nifty closed at 3798.10, up 37.00 points, or 1.0 per cent. It touched a low of 3750.35 and a high of 3805.85.

On the BSE, there were 1,584 advances and 927 declines. The CNX Mid-cap index gained 0.2 per cent and S&P CNX 500 was up 0.7 per cent.

Combined turnover on NSE and BSE was Rs 13,700 crore, up 10 per cent from Wednesday. ICICI Bank saw a block deal valued at Rs 370 crore. The stock ended down 0.3 per cent at Rs 855.

Ranbaxy Laboratories ended up 2 per cent at Rs 345 after the company announced a second interim dividend of 120 per cent, taking the total dividend for year to December 31 to 170 per cent.

Man Industries rose 8 per cent to Rs 200 as the company received a Rs 1,000 crore order from a US company, taking its order book to Rs 2,200 crore. The fast moving consumer goods' sector was the biggest gainer.

The BSE FMCG Index rose 2 per cent. The rise was mainly on short covering and value buying, dealers said.

Oil retailers erased early losses as crude oil prices retreated to under $64 a barrel on New York Mercantile Exchange. Bharat Petroleum Corp ended up 4.3 per cent at Rs 313.

Information technology shares recovered as the rupee depreciated against the dollar to 43.68.

Sharp rupee appreciation in the past two sessions has worried investors about the earnings of IT companies as nearly 60 per cent of their revenue comes from the US. Tata Consultancy Services and HCL Technologies rose 4 per cent each.

Infosys Technologies ended marginally down as JP Morgan and CLSA Asia Markets expressed concern over guidance the company for 2007-08. Market consensus is that Infosys should forecast 30 per cent growth in revenue.